THE DESERT TORTOISE
BY CARLAYA CHRISTENSEN AND AUSTIN PARKERSON
TABLE OF CONTENTS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Intro slide 3
Description slide 4
Story slide 5
Movement slide 6
Diet/food chain slide 7
Habitat slide 8
Adaptations slide 9
Life cycle slide 10
Survival stats slide 11
Behavior slide 12
Conclusion slide 13
Glossary slide 14
Bibliography slide 15
INTRODUCTION
Most people don’t know a lot about the Desert
Tortoise because they haven’t actually seen one.
So if you’re going to read this report you’re on
the right track.
STORY THE HARE AND THE
TORTOISE
One day a jackrabbit bragged about his
quickness to the desert animals. The
jackrabbit said “No one has or will ever beat
me, because when I run at full speed no one
can beat me.” The Desert Tortoise yelled,” I
want to challenge you to a race.”
Later that evening a path was planned and
a start was made. The jackrabbit darted out
of sight almost at once. He soon stopped
and took a nap in the warm sun. He knew
the tortoise could never catch up. Mean
while the tortoise walked steadily onward.
When the jackrabbit woke up, he couldn’t
see the tortoise any were. He bolted towards
the finish line, and when he got there the
tortoise was standing there waiting for him.
DESCRIPTION
The Desert Tortoise looks
really cool. Its colors are
brown, olive green,
yellow, black, pale
brown, and plastron
yellow. On their shells
they have hexagons all
over. They are 8-15
pounds. They also have
sharp claws to help dig
burrows.
MOVEMENT
The desert tortoise is a
quadruped and they are
slow moving creatures.
They can walk up to 7 miles
every day. They dig with
their forelimbs and push soil
out of the burrow with their
hind limbs.
FOOD
CHAIN
The desert tortoise gets
eaten by a lot of
different animals. The
tortoise eats cacti that
are fed by the sun and
water. Then coyotes,
bobcats, badgers, and
golden eagles all eat
tortoises. Next coyotes
also eat bobcats.
Finally mountain lions
eat coyotes.
MAP OF THEIR
HABITAT
The desert tortoise lives in a very
vast area. The states they live in
are Southern California, Southern
Nevada, Southwestern Utah,
Southern and Western Arizona,
and Mexico. The regions they are
found in are the Eastern Sonoran
Desert and the Mojave Desert.
The ecosystem they are most
commonly found in is the desert.
The shelters they live in are gravel
washes, desert washes, open
washes, sandy canyon bottoms
below 3,500 feet, burrows, rock
overhangs, overhangs, crevices in
rocky areas, shallow pallets,
beneath shrubs, rocky canyons,
and hillsides.
ADAPTATION
The desert tortoise has a
few cool adaptations.
They can burrow
underground to escape
heat. They also can
store water in their
bladder and pee when
a predator picks them
up. To keep themselves
from losing moisture, they
are able to tolerate high
levels of urea in their
bodies. To help, they
can also go long periods
of time without food or
water.
1-14 eggs
In egg under
ground between
70-140 days. 2-3
out of 100 live to
adult hood
LIFE CYCLE
Mature at 15-20
The desert tortoise is marked as an endangered
species. Their populations’ numbers have
decreased by 90% since the 1950’s. There are
about 100,000 desert tortoises left. In the late
1950’s there were at least 200 adults per square
mile. Now there are between 5-60 adults per
square mile.
SURVIVAL STATS
Changes in
population
Chart Title
300
100
200
50
100
0
Four Peaks
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
0
Maricopa
1992
Buck
1997
2002
Buck
Maricopa
Hualapai
San Pedro
Harquahala
Ebajada
2004
Four Peaks
BEHAVIOR
The desert tortoise acts in some
funny ways. First, fighting occurs
when either two males run into
each other, or when there is a
group of turtles. Second, since
there is only a small amount of
rainfall yearly in the desert, they
dig a pit to catch the falling
water. They can also reuse the
water that reaches their
bladder. That is the reason they
can go so long without drinking
water. Finally, the reason they
can live in a desert where
ground temperatures can reach
140 degrees Fahrenheit, is that
they burrow themselves into the
ground.
CONCLUSION
The desert tortoise
helps all other desert
animals survive with
their burrows,
because there are
some desert animals
who cannot dig their
own and depend on
abandoned tortoise
burrows for their
shelter. Soon the
desert tortoise will be
extinct if we don’t do
anything about . If
the tortoise goes
extinct, cactus will
take over our deserts
and other species
might go extinct as
well.
GLOSSARY
Gopherus agassizii – the desert tortoise.
Carapace – upper or topside of the shell.
Plastron – stomach side of the shell.
Quadruped – animal that walks on four feet.
Urea – occurs in urine and other body fluids as a product of protein.
Pallot – a bed.
Clutch – the amount of eggs laid.
Endangered - almost extinct.
Craig Ivanyi. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
http://www.desertmuseum.org/
2006
Kristine Bonner. Desertusa.com
http://www.desertusa.com/reptiles/desert-tortoise.htm1
2006
Jamie Rappaport Cark. Defenders of Wild Life
http://www.defeders.org/
2012
Sophie Lockwood. Desert Tortoise. Childs World
Spring Valley April 11 2008
BIBLIOGRAPHY